I Turned an Chef... Part 1...

Leaving behind the city of Pune for my first ever trek as a leader, I was quite excited. Excited to the fact that, I could order participants to get me water filled from the tanks, excited over the fact that I could cook for the batch, and (if possible), earn some praise for my cooked food.

So, I left Pune carrying one of the most heaviest sacks that I had ever carried, in my 2 yrs experience (except for the 21kg bag which I carried for 30 mins in Arunachal). All the possible raw material was carried by me. You can name it. Everything. 5kgs of Potatoes, 4kgs of onions, 2 half kilo packets of tea, 1 kilo of milk powder, 1 kilo cauliflower, 25 lemons, chillies and even papads. Was I going for trekking was the first question that first came to my mind, when for the first time I lifted my bag. I had been shopping whole day for the foodstuffs, where the vendor gave me weird looks when I asked him for the vegetables. I had to even make my own bill, he was way too busy with other customers.

Lets skip all the boring travel, in which I was trying to keep an eye on the bag that , had all the food. But it was to no good. The bag, was kept of the carriers, which was exactly on top of the hood. So after a nervous six hrs of travel, we had the food, that each participant had brought with him, and after all the form filling, we left to ascend the fort.

Fast forward to, 3 feet. Well,….with that weight I was already falling back. Not literally, i.e. but I was lagging behind. But when you are carrying yourself for your first leader trek, you are way inspired, and you behave as if you are taking a stroll in the park. I was given company by a girl, who also was lagging behind and we reached the first platform, where everybody was waiting for us. They only thing, I was capable of noticing when I kept my bag down, was the glint in the batch’s eye, showing a bit of admiration for me. So, with our normal Ghoshana..

“ Maharaj, Praud Pratap Purandar,

Kshatriy, Kulawdans,

Sinhasanadhishwar,

Maharajadhiraj,

Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj ki…Jai…”

That one sentence that 1 stanza, is something that fills you up with enthusiasm that you will never experience before. When all 20 people shout JAI and those mountain also echo with you, you feel to be a part of the world that was ruled by the Great. You forget everything from then on, your past, your future. Everything. Your only aim is to reach that small needle hole, you can see. You don’t care about the weight, about what others might think. That one poem…